181 Things to do on the Moon

February
2, 2007: If you woke up tomorrow morning and found
yourself on the moon, what would you do? NASA has just released
a list of 181 good ideas.

Ever
since the end of the Apollo program, "folks around the
world have been thinking about returning to the moon, and
what they would like to do there," says Jeff Volosin,
strategy development lead for NASA's Exploration Systems Mission
Directorate. Now,
NASA is going back; the agency plans to send astronauts
to the Moon no later than 2020. "So we consulted more
than 1,000 people from businesses, academia and 13 international
space agencies to come up with a master
list of 181 potential lunar objectives."

For
example, the moon could be a good location for radio astronomy.
A radio telescope on the far side of the Moon would be shielded
from Earth's copious radio noise, and would be able to observe
low radio frequencies blocked by Earth's atmosphere. Observations
at these frequencies have never been made before and opening
up a window into this low frequency universe will likely lead
to many exciting new discoveries.

Right:
A radio telescope on the moon uses a crater to support its
giant primary dish. Artist's concept by Pat Rawlings. [More]

The
moon would also be an excellent place to study the high-energy
particles of the solar wind, as well as cosmic rays from deep
space. Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere deflect many
of these particles, so even satellites in low-Earth orbit
can't observe them all. The moon has virtually no atmosphere,
and it spends most of its 28-day orbit outside of Earth's
magnetosphere. Detectors placed on the moon could get a complete
profile of solar particles, which reveal processes going on
inside the sun, as well as galactic cosmic radiation from
distant black holes and supernovas.

Bonus:
These particles are trapped by lunar regolith, the layer of
crushed rock and dust covering the moon's surface. This means
that lunar regolith contains a historical record of solar
output: core samples could tell us about changes in solar
output over billions of years. "We believe that the moon's
preservation of this solar record is unique and can provide
us with insights on how past fluctuations in the solar output
have affected, for example, the history of life on Earth,"
says Volosin. In particular, it could shed light on the extent
to which solar variability and galactic cosmic radiation influence
climate change.

But
the moon would be far more than just a platform for scientific
instruments gazing into space. The moon itself is a scientific
gold mine, a nearby example of planetary formation largely unaltered
by the passage of time. Some scientists call it "a fossil
world." The moon is a small, non-dynamic planetary body
and its interior state is largely preserved since the early
days of solar system history. Studying its interior would tell
scientists a lot about how a planet's internal layers separate
and solidify during planetary formation.

Even
something as simple as establishing the dates when various
craters on the moon were formed can provide us with a unique
picture of how the flux of meteoroids in the vicinity of Earth
has changed over time. (For more information see Science@NASA's
"The
Moon is a Harsh Witness.") This impact history is
lost on Earth by the constant renewal of the crust but on
the moon it is intact, rich with clues to periods in the past
when an increase in bombardment may have affected the climatic
history of Earth and even the evolution of life.

Science
accounts for only about a third of the 181 objectives, however.
More than half of the list deals with the many challenges
of learning to live on an alien world: everything from keeping
astronauts safe from radiation and micrometeors to setting
up power and communications systems to growing food in the
airless, arid lunar environment.

"We
want to learn how to live off the land and not depend so much
on supplies from Earth," says Tony Lavoie, leader of
NASA's Lunar Architecture Team (Phase 1) at the Marshall Space
Flight Center.

Astronauts
would face the same problems on a manned mission to Mars,
so much of the experience gained on the moon would carry over
when NASA eventually sends people to the Red Planet.

The
moon could also provide some creative commercial opportunities:
lunar power from solar cells, protected data archives, mining
of lunar metals, and research under conditions of low gravity
and high vacuum, to name a few. In fact, mining the moon may
eventually yield rocket propellant that could be sold to commercial
satellite operators to access and service their satellite
assets in Earth orbit. Beyond charging space tourists for
a chance to visit the moon, lunar entrepreneurs might host
special television events from the moon to boost publicity,
or place a remote-controlled rover on the moon. People back
on Earth could pay to take turns controlling the rover from
their Internet-connected computers, letting them take a virtual
drive across the moon's crater-pocked surface. In short, let
your imagination be your guide.

Not
all of the ideas on the list will necessarily happen. From
the master list of 181, NASA currently is selecting a smaller
number of high priority goals for its initial return to the
moon. Other goals could be considered by other space agencies
or private entrepreneurs who have an interest in exploring
the moon. NASA continues to receive input from scientists
at space agencies and universities around the world, the list
itself is still evolving and expanding.